What role do environmental factors play in language teaching and learning?

      NAME: BHATT URVI P.

ROLL NO. : 31

STD: M.A. (SEM-3)

SUB: English Language teaching-1

PAPER NO. : 12

TOPIC: What role do environmental factors play in language teaching and learning?

SUBMITTED TO: DEPT OF ENGLISH M.K BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

 What role do environmental factors play in language teaching and learning?

     Introduction:

                           

                 The term second language acquisition refers to the process through which some acquire one or more second or foreign languages.

                        

                    English is taught in India as second language. In Indie a very interesting situation operates. India being a multilingual country, English serves as a link language across the nation. It is also a language in which a lot of Indian literature is being written- that is to say, literature by Indians, about India but in English.

               It must be remembered that a language is not an isolated entity. It is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural, religious, etc. Concept of the native speaker’s life. In a wider sense, it represents across time and space the dynamic nature of these aspects. As stated above, when a language is used in a non-native context which has a different socio-cultural pattern, but not for expressing this non- native culture, it remains a foreign language, like French, or German or Russian are in India. But under these very circumstances, when it comes to be used to express the non- native culture and becomes a means of communication in some domains from interaction, it becomes a second language and is precisely in it is exploited. The results are very interesting, especially linguistically.

  The objectives of the language teaching:

                Teaching is not a unidirectional process of pumping bits and pieces of unrelated and undigested gobbets of knowledge into empty sacks. It is a bidirectional, interactional process. Learners are not just passive recipients of socially accepted language patterns. They play active role in this teaching- learning process. They actively strain, filter and recognize what they are exposed to. Their imitations are not photographic reproductions but artistic recreations. The learners are meaning- makers. The main objective at every level of teaching should be to help learners learn how to draw out their latent creativity.

  Background:

                                    Family Background and the surrounding also play an important role in the acquisition of language. A child acquires language very quickly. If the family of the child speaks first language, the child would have no problem while learning. But for teaching the Second Language, if created, can be helpful. The acquisition is quicker in suitable environment.

                                          If the family is educated, the acquisition is fast. If the student is the resident of urban area, there is possibility of the learner to be quicker. The types of tasks in which learners engage and the number of participants in a task also affect learner’s participation. Studies have been conducted on learners’ participation in tasks involving pair work, group work and the whole class.

                         The term acquisition was originally used to emphasize the sub- conscious nature of the learning and acquisition has become largely synonymous.

                   There has been much debate about exactly how language is learned, and many issues are still unresolved. There are many theories of SLA, but none are fully accepted by all SLA researchers. The SLA can be divided into five Stages:

Ø The first stage is preproduction which is also called silent period. At this stage learner can’t yet speak.

Ø The second stage of SLA is early production. During this speaker starts speaking short phrases of one or two words.

Ø The third stage is known as speech emergence. At this stage learner starts speaking simple sentences. Grammatical errors occur.

Ø The fourth stage is called intermediate fluency. Learner starts using complicated sentence structure. They do make frequent errors

Ø The fifth and final stage is said to be the stage of advanced fluency. The ability of learner is quite near to that of the native speaker.

     Language acquisition in children:

                

                       Swiss Psychologist- Jean Piaget was development psychologist rather than learning theorist. He studies the nature of children of different ages can benefit teachers. He provided a tenable ides in regard to the nature of learning process.

                       For Piaget the term ‘Genetic epistemology. ’Genetic’ means, developmenter and ‘epistemology’ is a theory of knowledge acquisition. Piaget’s genetic epistemology is developed to a study of the development stages of children as they relate to their acquisition of knowledge. Piaget studies were biologically oriented and he gives prominence to psychological factory he gives secondary place to cultural factors in explanation of human behaviour. He says that development of a child consists of a succession of three stages or periods.

                                     Each stage extends the proceeding periods reconstructs it on a new level, and later surpasses it an even greater degree.

            The process in development is assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation consists of filtering or modification of the input from the environment. Accommodation consists of the modification of one’s internal skill to fit reality.

v The different stages of acquisition in children:

Stage- 1                               

                        During the first stage from birth to 18 months or 2 years, an infant lacks any symbolic function and so displays no direct action on reality.

Stage- 2

                                   During the second stage from 18 months to the age of 1 or 8 years a child uses differentiated signifiers.

Stage- 3

                                       During the stage of concrete operations from 7/8 years to 11/12 years a child internalizes actions as related to objects but he or she does not yet use verbally stated hypothesis. Such hypotheses appear only in the periods of preadolescence.

                 Every learner is born with a built- in language- learning mechanism. This mechanism gets activated when the learner is exposed to that language. What is, therefore, essential is to create an atmosphere where learning can take place. Children learn the language they here around them. Exposure to a rich variety of linguistic material is as important in first language acquisition as in second language learning. The teaching of English as a second language, in particular, has often been less successful than it might have been, as a result of the restricted variety of linguistic contexts with which students are provided. Learners should ideally be exposed to a variety of contextualized language materials. They must here and see language in action.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Social Environment:

                            

   The idea of the social environment plays a major part in an individual’s cognitive and affective development was modelled by Bronfenbrenner (1979), who described the environment of a developing person as being similar to a Russian doll. He stated that the individual’s environment can be represented as a set of concentric interactive Layers. Their continues interaction with each other and with the individual defines the possible routes of development. Although based on this model numerous studies have been conducted concentrating on the validity of the model in different circumstances. I know of no research which aims to describe the nature of the influence of the attitudes and motivational roles of the social environment on the attitude of adult EFL. Learners at non- company courses. Therefore, the present study intends to validate a questionnaire with which it is possible to draw up a model of this interrelationship. 

  

               [Kovacs’s model of adult EFL learner’s social environment]

                               A figure shows, in my model there are two social environmental circles, the first being the immediate micro- environment that consists of family and friends. I included these people who in in adult life represent the Private environment and process the most personal information about the individual adult EFL learner. the other circle, the exo- environment, comprises the workplace, the language teacher and the language school. For adult EFL learners these do not attitudes of these two major facts influence the attitudes and motivations of adult EFL learners.

                          Some students learn a new language more quickly and easily that others. This simple fact is known by all who have themselves learned a L2 in School. Clearly, some language learners are successful by virtue of their sheer determination, hard work and persistence. However there are other crucial factors influencing success that are largely beyond the control of the learner. These factors can be broadly categorised as internal and external. It is their complex interplay that determines the speed and facility with which the new language is learned.

Internal Factors:

                                    Internal factors are those that the individual language learner brings with him or her to the particular learning situation.

  Age:

         SLA is influenced by the age of the learner. Children, who already have solid literary skills in their own language, seem to be in the best position to acquire a new language efficiently. Motivated, other learners can be very successful too. But usually struggle to achieve native- speaker equivalent pronunciation and intonation.

Personality:

                   Introverted or anxious learners usually make slower progress, particularly in the development of oral skills. They are less likely to take advantage of opportunities. More outgoing students will not worry about the inevitability of making mistakes. They will take risks and thus will give themselves much more practice.

Motivation:

                  Intrinsic motivation has been found to correlate strongly with educational achievement. Clearly, students who enjoy language learning and take pride in their progress will do better than those who don’s.

                                     Extrinsic motivation is also a significant factor. ESL students, for example, who need to learn English in order to take a place at an America university or to communicate with a new English boy / girlfriend, are likely to make greater effects and thus greater progress.

Experiences;

             Learners who have acquired general knowledge and experiences are in a stronger position to develop a new language than those who haven’t. The student, for example, who has already lived in three different countries and been exposed to various languages and cultures has a stronger base for learning a further language than the student who hasn’t had such experiences.

Cognition:  

                          In general it seems that students with greater cognitive abilities will make the faster progress. Some linguists believe that there is a specific innate language learning ability that is stronger in some students that in others.

Native language:           

                                     Students who are learning a second language which is from the same language family as their first language have, in general a much easier task that those who aren’t. So, for example, a Dutch child will learn English more quickly that a Japanese child.

External Factors:

                                     External Factors are those that characterize the particular language learning situation.

Curriculum:

                               For ESL students in particular it is important that the totality or their educational experience is appropriate for their needs. Language learning is less likely to place if students are fully submersed into the mainstream program without any extra assistance or, conversely, not allowed to be part of the mainstream until they have reached a certain level of language proficiency.

Instruction:

                                            Clearly, some language teachers are better that others at providing appropriate and effective learning experiences for the students in their classrooms. These students will make faster progress. The same applies to maintain teachers in L2 situations. The Science teacher, for example, who is aware that she too is responsible for the students English language development, and makes certain accommodations, will contribute to their linguistic development.

Culture and Status:                                                

                                                There is some evidence that students in situations where their own culture has a lower status than that of the culture in which they are learning the language make slower progress.

Motivation;

                                                       Students who are given continuing, appropriate encouragement to learn by their teachers and parents will generally fare better than those who aren’t. For example, students from families that place little importance on language learning are likely to progress less quickly.

Access to native speaker;

                                            The opportunity to interacts with native speakers both within and outside of the classroom is a significant advantage. Native speaker are linguistic models and can provide appropriate feedback. Clearly, L2 learners who have no extensive access to native speakers are likely to make slower progress, particularly in the oral/ aural aspects of language acquisition.